President Donald Trump said that Iran's leadership has approved a framework agreement with the United States that would permanently bar Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, raising expectations that a formal signing could take place within days.
Speaking at the White House, Trump said negotiations had reached the final stage and that documents were being prepared for what he described as a major diplomatic breakthrough following weeks of conflict. “We just made a great settlement of the war with Iran, and we're going to be subject to finalization of documents, which should get done over the next few days,” Trump said.
“We have a deal that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, which was the whole purpose of what we had to go through to get this.” The President said the agreement was nearing completion and could be signed “very soon,” possibly over the weekend in Europe.
Asked whether Iran's Supreme Leader had approved the arrangement, Trump replied: “I understand the answer is yes.” Trump said the proposed agreement would prohibit Iran from acquiring or developing nuclear weapons under any circumstances.
“They will not purchase, develop in any way, any shape, in any way, shape or form a nuclear weapon,” he said. “They will not have a nuclear weapon.” The President described the arrangement as “a very strong memorandum of understanding” that had also received backing from several countries involved in regional diplomacy.
“It's a very detailed memorandum of understanding, also agreed to by many other countries that have great influence over them,” he said. Trump said he had spoken with leaders from Israel, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait following the breakthrough.
The President argued that recent military pressure had convinced Tehran to accept the agreement. “They've taken a pounding,” Trump said. “They want to make the deal a lot more than I do.” He claimed Iran's military capabilities had been severely degraded during the conflict.
“Their navy is gone, their air force is gone, their anti-aircraft is gone, everything's gone,” Trump said. “But we found them to be rational and they're going to make a deal.” Trump also suggested that a new leadership group had emerged in Tehran following the conflict.
“There's a different group there's a different level and I think it's frankly a smarter level,” he said. Throughout his remarks, Trump repeatedly described preventing an Iranian nuclear weapon as the central objective of the negotiations. “Iran will in no way, shape or form have a nuclear weapon or purchase a nuclear weapon,” he said. “It's a great deal because they will never have a nuclear weapon.”